SPORTS

Packers fan behind Allouez goal post dies

Kendra Meinert
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Butch Mianecki, middle, got some help last year changing the Packers-themed message on his Allouez goal post from his son, Matt, left, and grandson, Kent. Butch Mianecki died Wednesday at age 86.

One of Green Bay’s most famous goal posts has lost its clever caretaker.

Richard “Butch” Mianecki, the Packers fan who made game-day slogans on the towering crossbar and uprights in his Allouez front yard a Titleltown tradition, died Wednesday at age 86.

For some 25 years, Butch and his wife Rosie’s big two-story house on Webster Avenue has been a beacon for Packers fans, thanks to the near regulation-size goal post Butch built himself. He was the mastermind behind the witty sayings that hung from it each week during the season, offering a 36-character take on the Packers’ opponents. Puns and rhymes were his specialty, whether giving fans a humorous pregame pep talk or some frank postgame commentary.

“Cheeseheads Won’t Let Giants Get In The Whey.”

“Pack Shows Nation They’re Still On Vacation.”

“Time to Crunch That Brady Bunch.”

“A New Row To Hoe With Rodgers In Control."

Mianecki's all-time favorite came after the 2005 NFC wild-card playoff game in which the Minnesota Vikings’ Randy Moss pretended to moon the Lambeau Field crowd in the end zone.

Butch’s take on that? “Before Toilet Paper, They Used Moss.” Rosie made him take it down.

That story made me laugh when I interviewed the Mianeckis in their home for a story last year. Butch, in his recliner and quick to offer a guest a 5 p.m. cocktail, estimated he had posted more than 900 sayings over the years. I wasn’t privy to all of them, but in the 14 years that I’ve lived in Allouez, I haven’t missed many. That’s because the Mianeckis’ goal post is at the top of my street.

Every repairman or delivery driver who has ever asked for directions to my house hears the same thing: “Just turn by the big green house with the Packers goal post.” Works every time and way more fun than GPS.

It’s also a reminder that the goal post, like the residential fences near Lambeau Field that are painted with a fresh slogan each season, or the Packers-themed dinosaur at the gas station at Lombardi and Ashland avenues, is one of those little touches that makes Green Bay Green Bay.

The goal post scored national exposure in USA TODAY in 2009 for a story about Brett Favre’s polarizing return to Lambeau as a Viking. (“It Was 4 To The Core But Not Anymore,” Butch proclaimed that year.) It hit the big time that year, but it can’t beat all the locals who drive by it daily on their way to work or the grocery store and have to smile at what they read.

Some stop to take photos. Some have offered suggestions over the years. I told Butch that I tweet it each week, the Press Gazette's packersnews.com retweets it and next thing you know, his words are traveling to Packers fans all over the country. He got a kick out of that.

It was easy to see how those slogans were so fun. He was a man with a twinkle in his eye and a little mischief in his personality, telling stories about the old-timer Packers, the old neighborhood and the Ice Bowl during our interview. There were few questions answered without humor.

As for all the fuss over his goal post, he said simply, “It just turned into something.”

Something special.

In 36 characters or less, “Thanks For The Memories, Butch.”

kmeinert@pressgazettemedia.com and follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert